The Sylvesters Vacation in Quebec
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day two hundred and eighty-two: Sue takes Brittany on her first vacation out of Lima.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 13th cycle. Now cycle 14!_

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**"The Sylvesters Vacation in Quebec"  
Sue & Brittany 5  
Companion to the Sylvester Series, 1st of 3 in Sylvesters Summer Vacation set  
**_A/N: Yes, I chose Bromont because it's my favorite place to go and I haven't been in years so I'm nostalgic, so there ;)_

It was the first time she had been able to arrange for vacation out of town with her daughter. In the first few years, of unexpected and single motherhood, it didn't seem like too good of an idea to put herself out there that way. In keeping their vacations homebound though, she had been able to discover a number of things. She was able to see so much more of who her daughter was in those few weeks than any full year. She had a freedom in her, much more than had to do with her being a child. She had so much in her that reminded Sue of distant memories, and at the end of the day, not only did it give her something good to hang on to, it also showed she couldn't have been doing too bad of a job, even if she was on her own. She was raising her and she was turning out okay.

But now Brittany was five, and she had made the decision that it was time to spread things out, to go somewhere. So she'd started thinking about it.

She had been stuck on the idea of going to France for a while at first. The idea was nice, of course, but then it didn't matter how nice it was when that dream was put up to reality, and the reality was she couldn't afford it, not at this time. So the plan was thrown aside, a great big sigh with it.

"What's wrong?" she heard and turned to find the small blonde standing at the table, looking up at her.

"I'm trying to plan our trip, but my idea isn't working," she explained. Seeing the inquisitive blue eyes, she carried on. "I guess I was just set on… something French," she made a face, which got a laugh out of Brittany and so a smirk from Sue. "But we can't go to France, that's the problem," she nodded to her daughter, who had promptly drifted into thought.

"That's the only place they have it?" she tilted her head. Sue looked at her, and suddenly the solution wasn't so far-fetched.

"Maybe not," she'd taken the girl to sit up on her knee, as the instigator of the idea, and continued her internet search… This was for them both, after all.

This was how they had ended up on a long drive followed by a bus ride up to Canada and Quebec and the Chateau Bromont. Brittany had been so energized on arriving that she'd tired herself out on the bus and been asleep when they arrived. She had to wait on their room, which wasn't ready, so she'd sat on one of the couches with her daughter's head rested on her lap, the rest of her tucked into the cushions. Sue kept still so not to disturb her, though at the same time was alright being where she was, the environment around her showing they'd picked the perfect spot for this first vacation. The fact would be, years later, that the place and the time they spent in it would be some of their favorite memories.

Once Brittany had awakened, as they were finally in their room, she was hungry, energized, and ready to go. Too late for lunch and too early for dinner, Brittany had begged to go to the pool. They'd gone for the indoor pool, where the blonde had splashed around for a while before getting enthralled by the view above her, of the windows of the floors above… colored shutters and flower boxes… She remained there, hanging on to her mother so she could stare up, for a while. It took three attempts from Sue and a growing hunger for them to finally go back up to their room and get ready for dinner. The restaurant had immediately won Brittany over, once Sue had told her the name, 'Les Quatre Canards,' meant 'The Four Ducks.'

They spent five days and four nights there. In that time, they had not left the place once. They had gone to the pool every day, several times. They had ruled out the outdoor pool fairly early, once they'd given up on the chilly water. So beside the view from above, the indoor pool had won for its warmth.

The thing Sue would come to appreciate though, beyond the 'frenchness' she'd wanted, was the simple fact that for those five days, no one knew who she was; no one cared, and that was what she wanted.

The last morning, before they had to finish packing and head off, they went to the pool one last time. Brittany had her last look at the windows above. Hanging off her mother as she did so, she asked, "Can we come next summer? I like it here," she looked back down to Sue.

"Maybe," she nodded with a smile.

THE END

_And on my way out, a little survey of sorts! It's for something to come later ;)_

_Give me a show you love the episode titles from [you can put along 3 to 5 of those episode titles along with it!]_

_[Thanks mag721!]_

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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